Councillor Brad Clark’s Annual Ward 9 Report
Councillor wants to enlist all 8,000 City of Hamilton employees to report litter and graffiti
By: Andrew Dreschel, March 6, 2020, Hamilton Spectator
Widening Rymal Road and Regional Road #56 in 2020
The long awaited widening of Rymal Road and Regional Road #56 will begin in 2020. Prior to the start of construction, we will be holding a Public Information Meeting some time in March to explain what you can expect.
Stoney Creek’s proposed new skateboard facility for Valley Park in 2020 capital budget
Stoney Creek’s proposed new skateboard facility for Valley Park in 2020 capital budget | HamiltonNews.com
October 21, 2019 by Kevin Werner
Stoney Creek Coun. Brad Clark said the proposed new skateboard facility at Valley Park has been incorporated into the 2020 capital budget with the plan to build it later in the year.
“The consultant came back with overwhelming support from the community,” said Clark. “The skate park is proceeding. A lot of people are excited in upper Stoney Creek.”
Clark acknowledged, though, that council still has to approve the 2020 capital budget before the project is allowed to proceed.
The skate park, which will be the first facility specifically designed for BMX, scooters, Rollerblades and bikes, has been under review by city staff and a consultant since last year.
The plan is to build a 16,100-square-foot concrete wheeled sport facility near Valley Park’s parking area beside a decommissioned baseball diamond.
Hamilton councillors approved a motion introduced by former Stoney Creek Coun. Doug Conley in early 2018 to use a $100,000 grant from Terrapure Environmental to cover the design cost of the park.
Clark acknowledged Conley’s support for the skateboard park and expects to invite the former councillor to attend the opening when the facility is built, expected to be in 2020.
Staff were working on a budget of about $1 million for the facility. A 10,000-square-foot facility could cost from $370,000 to $525,000, depending on what is incorporated into the park’s design.
Clark said the cost of the project is being funded through development charges so “there will be no impact to taxpayers.”
There are three options staff are reviewing, said Emily Trotta, a spokesperson for the city.
“We are still in the process of finalizing the design concepts with our designers and consultant,” she said.
The consultant is New Line Skateparks, which oversaw the design of Burlington’s skate park. New Line has designed and built nearly 200 skate parks across Canada and the United States, including in St. Catharines, Waterloo, Vancouver, Texas and San Francisco.
Another public information meeting will be scheduled in November to solicit residents’ input. A date and time for the meeting has yet to be established.
The design will incorporate lighting for evening use, a water fountain, expanded washrooms and new pedestrian pathways to the nearby transit stop, trails and sidewalks in the area.
The Valley Park wheeled facility will be the first one built in the city since the skateboard structure at Turner Park in 2005.
Hamilton’s skateboard park study recommended that up to four additional large parks of about 12,000 square feet be constructed by 2021 and at least two more by 2031.
The study, released in 2018, identified Valley Park, Alexander Park, the Ancaster Community Centre, Powell Park and the Sir Wilfrid Laurier Recreation Centre as preferred locations to address Hamilton’s growing skateboarding culture.
Skateboard parks are already located in Waterdown, Beasley Park in the downtown, Binbrook Fairgrounds, Turner Park, Mohawk Sports Park and the Parkdale Skate Park in east Hamilton.
Hamilton is shut out of vaping-related health information from local hospitals
Hamilton is shut out of vaping-related health information from local hospitals | HamiltonNews.com
October 21, 2019 by Kevin Werner
Hamilton is shut out of vaping-related health information from local hospitals | HamiltonNews.com
Hamilton’s Board of Health is requesting the provincial government to immediately provide crucial vaping-related health information from the local hospitals to the city.
Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton’s medical officer of health, surprised councillors on Oct. 18 when she said that hospitals provide vaping-related health information about the community to the province and the federal government, but not to the city’s own public health officials.
“We are not part of the process at present,” she said. “The information from our hospital goes directly to the province, then to the federal government.”
Richardson said the health information about vaping eventually is provided to municipalities, such as Hamilton, but it is dated.
Stoney Creek Coun. Brad Clark said since the goal of Hamilton’s officials is to protect good health it makes sense for health officials to have up-to-date information on an emerging health issue.
The Board of Health unanimously approved a motion, introduced by Clark, requesting the province provide the vaping-related incidents involving adults and youths.
“The weekly data we are requesting will help us with patterns and alert us to immediate issues that may warrant public health intervention or action,” he said. “By the time (the health information) gets back here it is no longer timely.”
The Ontario Minister of Health Christine Elliot in September issued an order that requires public hospitals to provide the chief medical officer of health with “statistical, non-identifying information related to probable or confirmed cases of vaping-related severe pulmonary disease in order to access data and information to understand the potential scope of this issue,” stated David Jenson, spokesperson for the ministry.
He said since the health information is critical it needs to go directly from public hospitals to the provincial government “as it works with leading experts in developing solutions that can meaningfully respond to this emerging issue.”
He said the ministry will continue to work with stakeholders, including municipalities” if any information about vaping-related illnesses is reported.
Hamilton is shut out of vaping-related health information from local hospitals | HamiltonNews.com
Vaping, also know as “juuling” is when a person inhales an aerosol vapour that is produced by a vaping device such as an e-cigarette. The vapour is produced by heating a liquid or e-juice.
In September, a London-area youth was put on life support as a result of a suspected vapour-related illness, the first person in Canada. He has since recovered.
There have been seven reported deaths and hundreds of cases in the United States.
Health Canada issued an earlier warning to Canadians, stating that vaping products can carry a risk of pulmonary illness.
Richardson said her staff hasn’t “heard” of any vaping-related illnesses in Hamilton, but it “continues to be concerning.”
Hamilton, she said, is working with the city’s school boards involving vaping and is involved with the provincial Smoke-Free group to address vaping.
Brad Clark Report 
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